India Today; Aman Sharma; New Delhi, April 14, 2011,
After judges and politicians, now it's the turn of bureaucrats to declare their assets.
The government, under intense public pressure to stamp out corruption, has decided to post online by May 31 the details of assets of the country's top bureaucrats.
All ministries and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) have been informed about the deadline by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
"It has been decided that the immovable property details submitted by members of all Group A services of the central government for the year 2010 will be made public by the respective cadrecontrolling authorities by May 31, 2011," a circular issued by joint secretary (DoPT) Mamta Kundra states.
The move follows judges and politicians declaring their assets, which triggered demands from RTI activists that the assets of IAS, IPS, Group A central services and Central Information Commission officers too be made public.
All civil servants do file the details of their assets to their cadre-controlling authority each year but the DoPT so far did not disclose these details in response to RTI applications, saying such information was personal in nature.
In an earlier circular on April 4, the DoPT had asked the chief secretaries of all states to inform IAS officers to submit their property returns by April 20 or risk not being considered for promotion or empanelment to senior posts.
"It has been decided that the annual property returns as on January 1, 2011, of All India Service and other Group A central services officers will be placed in public domain. Officers who do not submit their property returns in time would be denied vigilance clearance and will not be considered for promotion and empanelment to senior level posts in the government.
Hence, it is requested that the annual property returns of all IAS officers working in state governments and central ministries/ departments be forwarded to reach us positively by 5 pm on April 20, 2011," the DoPT circular of April 4 states.
The DoPT warned that the names of defaulting officers would be put up on its website. Many bureaucrats have not filed their property returns for 2010 to date despite the DoPT extending the deadline thrice from February 15 to March 26 and, finally now, till April 20.
In a landmark order last year, the Central Information Commission ruled that disclosure of information such as assets of a public servant - which is routinely collected by the public authority and routinely provided by the public servants - cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual.
Out in open:
- Assets of all Group A (which includes IAS) officers for 2010 will be made public & posted online by May 31
- The DoPT did not disclose assets details so far saying it was personal information
- The DoPT circular said defaulting officers wouldn't be considered for promotion & their names would be put up on its website
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